She didn’t say it that way but you have to think New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan was thinking that last week when she visited a Hampton Falls elementary school. As reported by Seacoastonline.com, Hassan went to the class to make amends for the...
Proposed tax increases and restrictions on future tax hikes were on the ballot in several states last week. Most of them failed. Colorado voters rejected both Amendment 73 , which would have increased corporate and personal income taxes to provide...
If you think a certain unnamed presidential candidate is a little impolitic, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. As the Philadelphia Inquirer reports , former Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling posted on his Facebook page that he is planning to run for...
MO Overrides Veto of SB 24 The MISSOURI Legislature overrides a veto by Gov. Jay Nixon (D) of SB 24, legislation that cuts the lifetime limit for the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program from five years to three years and nine months and...
Crime In Arizona ARIZONA Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) issues a legal opinion that allows people with concealed-carry permits to bring their guns into Grand Canyon State public and private K-12 schools (ARIZONA REPUBLIC [PHOENIX]).
Ice cream lovers in Ohio may soon have a new option when they trundle into their local ice cream parlor – booze-infused ice cream. As the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports , making hooch-laden ice cream is already legal in the Buckeye State. So is...
It is sometimes hard to fathom why perpetually unpopular Florida Gov. Rick Scott even ventures out of the governor’s mansion anymore. After making news last month for getting kicked off of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” for refusing to...
NH Gov Bans Gender Discrimination NEW HAMPSHIRE Gov. Maggie Hassan (D) issued EO 2016-04, which bars discrimination against transgender workers in state government. The policy covers state government employment, administration of state programs, and...
Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback (R) announced plans for a 3 percent immediate cut to the state university system after tax collections came in well below projections last month. The $17 million reduction will be spread across the six state universities,...
Energy In OR OREGON Gov. Kate Brown (D) signs HB 1547, a bill that requires the state’s two largest utilities to stop paying for out-of-state coal power by 2030 and serve half their customers’ demand with renewable sources such as wind...
Business In CA CALIFORNIA Gov. Jerry Brown(D) signs SB 3 , which will raise the Golden State minimum wage to $15 by 2022, with so-called “off ramps” for years in which the economy is struggling (LEXISNEXIS STATE NET). Business in NY...
Most of us recall former Texas Gov. Rick Perry intimating a while back that the Lone Star State was kinda sorta maybe wanting to check out of this here United States and return to being a sovereign nation. While there are definitely those that would gladly...
High Court Denies Challenge of CO Pot Laws The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear NEBRASKA and OKLAHOMA’s challenge of COLORADO's marijuana legalization laws. The 6-2 vote means COLORADO’s first-of-their-kind cannabis laws will...
Part of a $1.3 billion budget bailout passed by Pennsylvania lawmakers and signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf (D) last month was an extension of the state’s 6-percent sales tax to include digital downloads and streaming services. Nicknamed the “Netflix...
Alaska Signs SB 83 ALASKA Gov. Bill Walker (I) signs SB 83 , which allows the state’s Adult Protective Services agency to use videoconferencing technology in rural communities to serve adults. Walker also signs HB 108 , which allows fiduciaries...
Citing data showing that people living in manufactured homes in Ohio are far more likely to die in a fire than those living in other dwellings, Gov. John Kasich (R) is urging lawmakers to give the Buckeye State direct oversight of the industry. That oversight...
Happening In CO The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City conditionally grants a master account to The Fourth Corner Credit Union, a COLORADO credit union created to exclusively serve the legal marijuana industry. The approval lists a number of conditions...
Business In VA The VIRGINIA General Assembly endorses SB 646, which would make the Old Dominion the first state to legislatively adopt regulations on the fast growing daily fantasy sports industry. Under the measure, fantasy operators would have to...
That one wasn’t Hogan’s only unusual effort of the day. As the Capital Gazette reports , he also inked his name to a bill that creates a pilot program allowing authorities to bring dogs into courtrooms to help with child witnesses. The bill...
State, Federal Lawmakers Consider Forgiving Farmers’ Student Debt: Only about 6 percent of American farmers are under the age of 35, while more than 62 percent are over 55, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2012 Census of Agriculture...
Included in the budget bill passed by Ohio lawmakers last year was a proposal, dubbed the “Healthy Ohio Program,” requiring all non-disabled Medicaid participants in the state earning any amount of income - about 1.6 million individuals -...
Spinning the truth to suit your own needs is a time honored political tradition. But in our current hyperpartisan world, that spin has turned into a whirlwind that too often spits out downright falsehoods. Such is the case in California, where Assemblymember...
Last December, the SNCJ staff laid out its annual list of issues we felt would receive significant attention in statehouses across the nation in the year ahead. Although it is something we’ve done for many years now, no upcoming year had presented...
Almost $82 billion was spent on Medicaid in California in FY 2016 - $52.6 billion (64.1 percent) by the federal government and $29.4 billion (35.9 percent) by the state - according to January 2017 estimates from the Urban Institute, based on data from...
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) proposed new regulations that would require parole boards to consider both an inmate’s personal needs as well as his or her risk to the public before being released. “Confidence in the criminal justice...